The (Not So) Local Tourist: Already jumping the shark

PANAMA CITY — That’s right — after only a few episodes, The (Not So) Local Tourists has jumped the shark.

Not literally. No, that would be Cherie “the Sharklady” Will, with whom we spent a glorious afternoon on the Mexico Beach pier catching sharks.

Sharks? On the Mexico Beach pier? It’s more common than you think.

Yes, these have all been particularly bad jokes. No, I can’t promise there won’t be anymore. Read ahead at your own risk.

Shark fishing as a hobby has been skirting the mainstream in Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach for a little while, with land-fishing excursions available for daring tourists and residents alike who want the bragging rights that come with reeling in the ocean’s most fearsome predator.

Most people would be perfectly happy never seeing a shark up close. As you’ve probably gathered, Katie and I aren’t most people.

So we reached out to Will, who pretty regularly gets together with a group of other shark fishing enthusiasts at the pier for daylong sessions. Because catching a shark isn’t as easy as just tossing out a line. No, to catch sharks, first you need to listen to a whole bunch of Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, sing the “Here, fishy fishy” song, rub the fishing poles in a slightly obscene way and perform a few other rituals to lure the Spanish mackerel and ladyfish in from the open water. Fishermen, it turns out, are a really superstitious bunch.

Once the bait is caught, Will gets into a tiny blue kayak and paddles the bait out into deep water (insert, “you’re going to need a bigger boat” joke here). Sometimes, Will reels in the sharks herself. Sometimes, she uses her kayak to guide the sharks to the beach so they can be unhooked and tagged for NOAA.

And if a big, angry shark in a tiny blue kayak seems like kind of a mismatch, Will doesn’t let it bother her. See, she loves these sharks. She’s covered in shark tattoos. She'd probably happily sacrifice an arm or a leg if it meant getting those sharks unhooked and tagged safely. I know, because I watched it almost happen a few times, when a hammerhead got wrapped up in the pier.

We all love Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, but if you talk to the right people and have just a little bit of courage, every week can be Shark Week in Bay County.